Gonzalez v. Google, Inc.

335 F. Supp. 3d 1156
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. California
DecidedAugust 15, 2018
DocketCase No. 16-cv-03282-DMR
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 335 F. Supp. 3d 1156 (Gonzalez v. Google, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Gonzalez v. Google, Inc., 335 F. Supp. 3d 1156 (N.D. Cal. 2018).

Opinion

The Ninth Circuit has held that the CDA "does not declare 'a general immunity from liability deriving from third-party content.' " Internet Brands , 824 F.3d at 852 (quoting Barnes v. Yahoo!, Inc. , 570 F.3d 1096, 1100 (9th Cir. 2009) ). Nor was it "meant to create a lawless no-man's land on the Internet." Roommates , 521 F.3d at 1164. Rather, section 230(c)(1) only protects from liability (a) a provider of an interactive computer service (b) that the plaintiff seeks to treat as a publisher or speaker (c) of information provided by another information content provider. Barnes , 570 F.3d at 1100-01 ; Roommates , 521 F.3d at 1162.

2. JASTA

Congress enacted JASTA in September 2016. JASTA expanded the ATA by adding 18 U.S.C. § 2333(d), which provides that US nationals may assert liability against a person who aids and abets or conspires with a person who commits an act of international terrorism.6 JASTA also *1167amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act ("FSIA"), 28 U.S.C. §§ 1602 - 1611, to add a terrorism-related exception to the FSIA's grant of immunity to foreign states. JASTA includes the following statement of purpose:

The purpose of this Act is to provide civil litigants with the broadest possible basis, consistent with the Constitution of the United States, to seek relief against persons, entities, and foreign countries, wherever acting and wherever they may be found, that have provided material support, directly or indirectly, to foreign organizations or persons that engage in terrorist activities against the United States.

JASTA § 2(b).

In opposing the motion to dismiss the SAC, Plaintiffs argued that JASTA's statement of purpose repealed the immunity provided by section 230(c)(1), rendering section 230(c)(1) inapplicable to their claims. Plaintiffs now assert that they "stand[ ] by its [sic] arguments that JASTA commands that Section 230 does not apply to ATA cases." Opp'n 20. They express disagreement with the court's decision and provide "clarifications of their position." Id.

The court addressed Plaintiffs' argument at length in its order on the motion to dismiss and concluded that JASTA did not expressly or impliedly repeal section 230(c)(1). Gonzalez , 282 F.Supp.3d at 1158-61. Plaintiffs' "clarifications" simply re-hash their previous argument that JASTA's statement of purpose expressed Congress's intent to abrogate any limitation on the ATA, including section 230(c)(1). The court considered and rejected this. Id. Their argument in opposition to the current motion is nothing more than an attempt to seek reconsideration on this issue without complying with the local rules, which require a party to obtain leave of court. Civ. L.R. 7-9(a). A motion for reconsideration may be made on one of three grounds: (1) a material difference in fact or law exists from that which was presented to the court, which, in the exercise of reasonable diligence, the party applying for reconsideration did not know at the time of the order for which reconsideration is sought; (2) the emergence of new material facts or a change of law; or (3) a manifest failure by the court to consider material facts or dispositive legal arguments presented before such order. Civ. L.R. 7-9(b).

None of the grounds for reconsideration are present here. Moreover, the local rule makes clear that "[n]o motion for leave to file a motion for reconsideration may repeat any oral or written argument made by the applying party in support of or in opposition to the interlocutory order which the party now seeks to have reconsidered." Civ. L.R. 7-9(c). Plaintiffs do just that, by repeating the arguments they previously made. The court declines to revisit its prior ruling that JASTA did not repeal section 230(c)(1).

3. Extraterritorial Application of Section 230(c)(1)

Plaintiffs next ask the court to revisit its ruling that this case does not involve an impermissible extraterritorial application of section 230(c)(1). Plaintiffs previously argued that section 230(c)(1) does not apply outside the territorial jurisdiction of the United States, and that all of the relevant events at issue took place outside the United States. The court applied the RJRNabisco / Morrison framework in concluding that the focus of section 230(c)(1) is on limiting civil liability, and that here, the location of the conduct relevant to that focus is in this district, where the litigation is filed and where immunity is sought. Gonzalez , 282 F.Supp.3d at 1161-63 (citing *1168RJR Nabisco, Inc. v. European Cmty. , --- U.S. ----, 136 S.Ct. 2090, 2100-101, 195 L.Ed.2d 476 (2016), Morrison v. Nat'l Australia Bank Ltd. , 561 U.S. 247, 267, 130 S.Ct. 2869, 177 L.Ed.2d 535 (2010) ). Thus, the court concluded, this case involves a domestic application of section 230(c)(1). Gonzalez , 282 F.Supp.3d at 1163.

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Bluebook (online)
335 F. Supp. 3d 1156, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/gonzalez-v-google-inc-cand-2018.